Prof. Chris Imumolen, a former presidential candidate, has described as “ungrateful and pretentious” a claim by Governor Ademola Adeleke’s campaign spokesperson, Pelumi Olajengbesi, that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu offered no support to Adeleke’s victory in the August 15 Osun governorship election….
Prof. Chris Imumolen, a former presidential candidate, has described as “ungrateful and pretentious” a claim by Governor Ademola Adeleke’s campaign spokesperson, Pelumi Olajengbesi, that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu offered no support to Adeleke’s victory in the August 15 Osun governorship election.
Imumolen said the claim wrongly reduced presidential support to open campaigning, financial assistance or the deployment of political structures.
He argued that Tinubu’s decision to remain neutral during the election, despite the fact that the APC candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, was from the President’s own party, demonstrated democratic restraint.
“Support in politics is not limited to standing on a campaign platform or openly mobilising votes for a candidate. Sometimes, leadership is demonstrated by what a leader deliberately refuses to do,” Imumolen said.
He said Tinubu did not turn the election into a personal battle or deploy the power of his office against Adeleke.
“President Tinubu demonstrated an extraordinary level of democratic restraint in Osun. He remained neutral even when the candidate of his own party was contesting the election,” he said.
According to Imumolen, the President’s conduct helped create an environment in which political actors, traditional rulers and voters could make independent choices without undue federal pressure.
He also cited Tinubu’s reported intervention concerning the Osun State Government’s account and his communication with Adeleke before the election result was announced as examples of what he described as statesmanship.
“Imagine what would have happened if the President had decided to use every available instrument at his disposal against Adeleke simply because the Governor was contesting against the President’s party.
“Instead, the President maintained his democratic disposition. He allowed traditional rulers, political actors, stakeholders and ordinary citizens to exercise their judgment,” he said.
Imumolen stressed that his position did not mean Tinubu campaigned for Adeleke or financed his re-election bid.
“Nobody is saying President Tinubu campaigned for Adeleke. That is not the argument. The point is that the President’s conduct, restraint and democratic disposition contributed to an environment in which Adeleke was able to contest and secure support without the Federal Government turning the election into a presidential power contest,” he said.
He therefore described Olajengbesi’s claim that Tinubu offered “no support” as misleading.
According to him, political leaders should distinguish between partisan support and democratic statesmanship.
“Leadership is not only about what you do for your friends.
Sometimes, it is about what you refuse to do to your opponents,” Imumolen said.
He urged Adeleke and his supporters to acknowledge what he called the President’s respect for the democratic process.
“Adeleke may have won because of the votes he received from Osun people, but nobody should rewrite the circumstances under which those votes were allowed to freely determine the outcome.
“President Tinubu could have chosen confrontation. He chose restraint. He could have chosen partisan warfare. He chose democracy. That should be acknowledged, not denied,” he said.
Imumolen said political victory should not become an excuse for what he described as historical revisionism.
“Victory should make a leader magnanimous, not revisionist. The President respected the democratic process in Osun. That fact should not be diminished simply because Adeleke emerged victorious,” he said.
The statement followed comments by Olajengbesi in an interview published by The PUNCH, in which he argued that Tinubu did not support Adeleke’s victory and attributed the governor’s re-election to the will of Osun voters and his performance in office.
